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Too many Vacancies at State House

By Philip Neville

No President of a State, Country or an Organization should allow vacant positions to exist in his/her administration for too long. It administratively and morally obligatory to close every gap that emerges in an organization. This also goes for political offices that gaps or vacant positions occur. Leaving it for long poses serious questions that bother on the ability of the leader, the availability of competent human resources and the sensitivity/awareness by the leader of the emerging gaps that are created , which are not filled as expected by members of the public and in an organization by staffs of the establishment.

In the Ernest Koroma APC Government, it is considered neither a principle nor obligatory to close existing gaps. If that is so, several questions need to be answered and when these questions are not responded as demanded, speculations become the readily available answer. Some speculations may be negative; others may be left hanging with no conclusion. This should not be the case; therefore it becomes imperative for every leader be it an Organizational setting or politics to fill existing gaps when they emerge.

In politics when the gaps are not filled based on an estimated time frame of the electorates, the assessment by the public and the International Community will be obvious. That, either there are no competent human resources to slot into the various gaps or the leader is finding it extremely to reach out for the right caliber of persons/individuals to assist him steer the ship of state. Therefore he has abandoned his state duty to fate or futility.

Whether it is an administrative style that is not documented in any book, or lack of confidence on the part of President to refill those gaps has left the public in a state of doubt and when a leader allows the public to exercise doubts in about his administration, such doubts are transformed to mockery.

It is over six months now since certain ministries have remained unfilled. President Koroma with the full constitutional back has the right to hire and fire, but every hiring and firing has to be scrutinized by the masses under whose natural and constitutional rights he was allowed to become the driver of the State vehicle.

What we are seeing now could be interpreted rightly or wrongly that the President may have found himself in a state of either, called it dilemma or disillusionment. It has degenerated to a point that has warranted several questions, which President Koroma ought to respond to in the interest of good governance and effective statesmanship. Why has President Koroma not been able to fill in the many gaps that have occurred in his Cabinet? This is the alienable right of the voters to ask, for which they are expecting an answer. If the President is of the opinion that there are competent and credible human materials within the APC Party, there are no rules that state he should not appoint outside his party. The doubts and speculations he has caused to hover around should be put to rest. The delay to appoint Sierra Leoneans, whether within or outside his party have resulted to the many poor performances of some of his ministers who are not certain whether they would be in office for the next six months or more.

The consequences of this inaction by President Koroma have is the undeniable fact that those in offices are busy grabbing what their hands can take, which is not in the interest of good governance and better administration.

If one could reflect on the number of vacant positions in the present APC administration of President Koroma, it may sound shocking and incredible to contend with for a Government that is to be perceived serious to allow those vacant positions to exist for six or more months.

State House being the recruiting agency should have since been looking into the credentials of candidates for the various offices, but the more the delays and inactions continue to take place the more damages are caused by those ministers who feel insecure.

At the Ministry of Education, there is one which urgently needs to be address if the burden of work is to be cushioned. Since the sacking of Mahmoud Tarawallie his position has not be refilled and trial of an alleged rape is still pending at the High Court. Mahmoud Tarawallie, born of Port Loko District is not the only individual from the district. There are lots of qualified Citizens of the district that can replace Mahmoud Tarawallie if the President feels that his replacement should come from the district.

At the Ministry of Works and Maintenance A.P.Koroma can be replaced by another candidate from his region that is probably going by the President’ assumption or regional balance he may want to create. Similarly, Munda Rogers can be replaced by another individual from the Pujehun District if that is want President Koroma is looking at. It would appear vague for any leader to imagine that when an individual from a particular region is sick, dead or sacked another individual from the same region should be appointed in his/her place. When will the political gaps created last Monday be filled is not known. This is affecting good administration, when the delay becomes extreme.

On the other hand, the question of what would be the interpretation by the International Committee that has been regularly putting their focus lens on the Government, busy counting days, months for some tangible to take place.

President Koroma may not like the description that may have been attributed to his administration for not handling the situation in a very timely manner when it occurred by both the International Community and those back home. The assessment undoubtedly is a minus, which is not good for a letter to be assessed in such